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A review by thehappybooker
Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think by Steven Kotler, Peter H. Diamandis
2.0
There are a few emerging technologies that have mind-boggling potential to change our lives, among them nanotechnology and nano-manufacturing, gene therapy, 3D printing, innovations in energy production and storage, and whole economies based on symbolic exchange without the intervention of a centralized bank (think what an international exchange of a next-gen Bitcoin system could do panic the fatcats at Citigroup). Fantastic possibilities.
This book didn't intrigue me, didn't inspire me, didn't give me nearly the jolt of hope/fear that Cory Doctorow's novels do. Doctorow talks about these disruptive changes bubbling up from the creative energies of everyday, working people. Diamandis thinks that the robber barons who have shown no indication that they care about humans outside their own circle will suddenly get the urge to fund innovation for the good of all. I'll charitably call that unlikely.
Agreed - humans have squandered resources but can reorganize, reprioritize, and redistribute the basic goods of life. Disagree - humans, as a species, have the will to change our ways before much, much pain forces us to readjust our expectations and commit effort and treasure toward a truly sustainable future.
And another thing! My opinions about the future are based on observation and analysis, not on lazy pessimism, as this author seems to assert. I'll thank him to cast his aspersions elsewhere.
I disagree with him that all we need is optimism and the solutions will appear. We have lots of possible solutions and the future, after some pretty awful upheaval, will be relatively comfortable for a greater percentage of humanity than now. However, between now and then lies a revolution. I'm hoping for a gradual, lawful shift of cultural values toward an Age of Aquarius, but in that hope I may be far too optimistic.
This book didn't intrigue me, didn't inspire me, didn't give me nearly the jolt of hope/fear that Cory Doctorow's novels do. Doctorow talks about these disruptive changes bubbling up from the creative energies of everyday, working people. Diamandis thinks that the robber barons who have shown no indication that they care about humans outside their own circle will suddenly get the urge to fund innovation for the good of all. I'll charitably call that unlikely.
Agreed - humans have squandered resources but can reorganize, reprioritize, and redistribute the basic goods of life. Disagree - humans, as a species, have the will to change our ways before much, much pain forces us to readjust our expectations and commit effort and treasure toward a truly sustainable future.
And another thing! My opinions about the future are based on observation and analysis, not on lazy pessimism, as this author seems to assert. I'll thank him to cast his aspersions elsewhere.
I disagree with him that all we need is optimism and the solutions will appear. We have lots of possible solutions and the future, after some pretty awful upheaval, will be relatively comfortable for a greater percentage of humanity than now. However, between now and then lies a revolution. I'm hoping for a gradual, lawful shift of cultural values toward an Age of Aquarius, but in that hope I may be far too optimistic.